Prussia essays

Prussia essays Analyze the military, political, and social factors that account for the rise of Prussia between 1640 and 1786. The rise of Prussia between 1640 and 1786 occurred as a result of a combination of military, political, and social factors. War and the threat of war aided Frederick William and Frederick William I greatly in their attempts to build royal absolutism in Prussia. Due to the wartime atmosphere, Frederick William and Frederick William I were able to reduce the political power of the landlord nobility, and allow them to keep control over the peasantry. The landlords, satisfied with being unchallenged masters of their peasants, did not challenge the monarchs power, which ultimately led to the rise of Prussia. When Frederick William, of the Hohenzollern family, later known as the Great Elector, gained power in 1640, in Brandenburg, Prussia, and scattered land along the Rhine in western Germany, he was determined to unify the areas and assert royal absolutism. During the early seventeenth century, the Estates of the provinces, dominated by the nobility and landowners, or the Junkers, controlled taxation. However, the Great Elector gained power over in Brandenburg in 1653 and in Prussia between 1661 and 1663 to levy taxes without the Junkers consent. The Great Elector took military actions to defend his land. In 1660, he first financed a permanent standing army. He obtained the revenue to do so by imposing permanent taxes on the Estates without their consent. The soldiers doubled as tax collectors and policemen, becoming the core of the rapidly expanding state bureaucracy. Due to financial independence and an excellent army, Frederick William reduced the power of the Estates. He also tripled the states total revenue during his reign and greatly expanded the army, welcoming French Huguenot immigrants as talented, hard-working soldiers. ...